The Study On Song Yingchang's Strategies Against Japan In The Wanli Korean Campaign

Japanese invasions of Korea(1592–1598)was a major event which had a far-reaching impact on East Asia in the late 16 th century.This thesis takes Song Yingchang,the highest commander of the Eastern Expeditionary Army of Ming Dynasty and his book Jinglue Fuguo Yaobian,as the research object,explores his changes of military strategies against Japan and the reasons for these changes during his tenure.Before the expedition of his army,Song Yingchang made adequate preparations in order to expel the Japanese army from Joseon Dynasty,which ruled over a united Korean Peninsula at that time.Soon after the Ming army entered into the Joseon Dynasty,the situation of the war was not conducive to the Ming army,thus Commander Song changed his strategies against Japan from the previous active one to a defensive one.When the attacks of the Ming army frustrated by Japan,he adjusted his strategies timely,thus forced the Japanese army to take an initiative request for peace.Since then,he sufficiently applied his military strategies according to the situation of the front line and thus protected the most of Joseon Dynasty's territory at a low cost.At last,he resigned home because of his controversial strategies towards Japan on the aftermath of this war.This article is divided into three parts: introduction,text and conclusion.The introduction mainly elaborates the background and significance of the topic,the innovation and shortcomings of this paper.The conclusion part explores the changes of Song Yingchang's strategies against Janpan from three aspects: the difficulties encountered by the Eastern Expeditionary Army of the Ming dynasty,the poor cooperation of the DPRK and the attitude of the Ming court.This thesis is divided into five parts except the Introduction.The introduction mainly elaborates the background,significance and research status of this topic.The first part introduces Song Yingchang's life experiences and the historical values of his book jinglue fuguo Yaobian.The second part introduces Song Yingchang's pre-war preparations.Because he was fully prepared for this war,the Ming army made a comparatively great success at the beginning of this war.The third part elaborates Song Yingchang's strategies against Japan in the early days of this war.In this period,Song Yingchang constantly adjusted his military strategies according to the changes of the situation of the front line.The fourth part describes Song Yingchang's strategies against Japan after the Battle of Bi ti guan.When the Ming army in a very unfavorable situation,Song Yingchang actively adjusted his strategies,forced the Japanese army to take an initiative request for peace.The fifth part elaborates Song Yingchang's strategies against Janpan on the aftermath of this war.Song Yingchang repeatedly reported the situation of the front to the Ming court and suggested that the negotiations with Japan and the defensive issues of Joseon Dynasty should be conducted at the same time.However,later he resigned home for his controversial strategies towards Japan.